Imagine starting every day with the sound of fifty feet bouncing into your classroom and then followed up with “what are we going to do today, Mr. Randy?’ about 50 times. I am lucky enough to hear this each and every day. My students are full of energy, extremely creative, and always eager to learn. Some days it feels like a circus and I am either the ring leader or the clown, and other days it is so quiet you could hear a pin drop because my students are so engrossed in whatever new book we are reading.
I love my students and in order to push them further along, we need more technology in our classroom!
Several of my students have a great passion for reading and always have a book in their hands. Others, however, dread it so much because it is just too hard.
My Project
In an ideal classroom, technology would be used every day. There are so many amazing things we could do in our classroom with the four mini iPads. My students are digital natives, meaning they have always had technology at their finger tips and there is a lack of it in my classroom. Research has shown that using iPads for literacy instruction not only supported student learning, but students were also highly engaged and able to demonstrate unique and creative ways of responding to text. Students will use them to play interactive learning games that will boost their fluency and comprehension. I envision a Reader's Theater group recording a passage, playing it back, and then reflecting on their own fluency performance.
In order for each child to be successful in the 21st century, there has to be technology in my classroom.
The iPad minis will enable my kids to down load digital books using their public library card. Hopefully this would encourage each and everyone of them to read on their tablets at home. We will be able to create book talks using the recording device and even produce videos of favorite scenes from the books that we read.
With all the apps that are available, my class will be able to utilize technology in school that will keep them engaged as they are learning. Hopefully this will take them beyond using a tablet for more than games and social media.
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